Rent arrears due to hospitalisation - what to do next

idontlikecats

Hi,

I have been popping into Debt Free Wannabe and lurking for years now but have now gotten to the point where I don't believe I can get the advice I need without opening a thread.

My Partner lives in a shared student flat with a total rent of £1521PCM. Her share of this is £304.20. In February she was hospitalised for a few months which meant that she could not work during this time or since. She has not paid any rent between then and now. (I was not aware of this or how it had been handled so can't make excuses but this is where we are at). The rent was paid by direct debit which was canceled during Februray. This leaves us with £1521 in arrears AFAIK.

During this time there have been no letters received at the address where she lives from the landlord or estate agent. This contract mentions a guarantor and if they are who we believe them to be then they have not received any letters either.

The contract has 3 terms which I believe are relevant and I'll list them here:

• If you pay the rent late, we can charge you interest at the rate of 8% a year once the rent is 14 days late. W will charge you interest until the date we receive full payment
• If we or our agent has to send you a letter because you have broken the agreement (including owing rent), you must pay the fixed fee of £20
• If your bank returns a cheque, standing order or direct debit unpaid, you must pay a £20 administration fee

Re: the £20 fees it says that these will be + VAT

This contract expires in August and I believe this is the time that the landlord will begin proceedings to try to recover the money so it is in our interest to resolve this ASAP.

Given that my partner is not financially able to clear all of the debt currently, and is unlikely to be able to pay anything other than part-payments in the near future I have some questions:

• What should we do next. Are there any organisations that can help? CAB? Charities?
• Should we contact the estate agent or landlord. They have not contacted us yet
• Are the charges and the interest mentioned above legal? Would there be any way to claim these back or freeze the interest?

My next concern is a kind of worst-case-scenario one

At the end of the contract term she will be moving in with me in a property I own. If she is being or ends up being pursued by debt collectors am I liable for any of this debt? The reason I ask is that I have many assets which far exceed the amount of this debt and am slightly concerned that these could be liable to be taken by bailiffs. How would this work? Do I have to prove ownership? Do they have to prove they are hers?

I think this is all of the information I can offer at present. If any other info would help I will be keeping a close eye on this thread

Thanks
S

[Deleted User]

I assume she is a student at uni?and has been paid her grants loans etc?
if this is the case then the answer is obvious,if not then tell us
as for the t&c`s they seem legal to me and i assume she agreed to then when taking on the lease?

timetogrowup89

Most uni's have a discretionary fund that you can apply to should you find yourself in financial hardship. I guess at the time she could of applied to this, not sure how it works now that the term is over?

She could always phone and explain her situation and they may help a bit. My friend was in hospital at uni and they paid a month of the rent as it was an unavoidable situation rather than just bad money management...

Think she had to prove she had been in hospital etc..

Dunroamin

If she's been hospitalised for months, what has she been spending her rent mney on?

Mikazaru

idontlikecats wrote: »

Hi,


During this time there have been no letters received at the address where she lives from the landlord or estate agent. This contract mentions a guarantor and if they are who we believe them to be then they have not received any letters either.

It's really important that you double check who the guarantor is. You say 'if they are who we believe them to be', does that mean you don't know them and it was the parents of another student? If they can't get it from your partner, they will go straight to the guarantor, although it's strange there has been no written communication.
You wouldn't be liable for any of the debt if they move in with you.

idontlikecats

timetogrowup89 wrote: »

Most uni's have a discretionary fund that you can apply to should you find yourself in financial hardship. I guess at the time she could of applied to this, not sure how it works now that the term is over?

She could always phone and explain her situation and they may help a bit. My friend was in hospital at uni and they paid a month of the rent as it was an unavoidable situation rather than just bad money management...

Think she had to prove she had been in hospital etc..

Dunroamin wrote: »

If she's been hospitalised for months, what has she been spending her rent mney on?

Hi again,

Sorry that the information isn't complete. I tried to list everything that I thought relevant at the time.

She moved into this property at the beginning of the course year (September?) but left the course in Octuber thus didn't recieve any student finance for some time prior to the accident. The only income was from the job.

Mikazaru wrote: »

It's really important that you double check who the guarantor is. You say 'if they are who we believe them to be', does that mean you don't know them and it was the parents of another student? If they can't get it from your partner, they will go straight to the guarantor, although it's strange there has been no written communication.
You wouldn't be liable for any of the debt if they move in with you.

We will double check who the guarantor is ASAP. Thanks


Basically I'm trying to help her out of this mess by offering some advice and was wondering if there were any other obvious things to do other than contact the estate agent and sort out repayment

I was wondering about the terms in the contract because if they are going to charge 8% it is going to be best if I pay it in full and then she pay me back

Thanks for the help so far

----

EDIT:
I remember from other threads in this forum that people have agreed with creditors (obviously this is an entirely different way of accruing debt and may be a different process) repayment plans where they can pay x/month until the balance is settled, or freeze interest etc. Is this going to be realistic at this stage or do these things tend to have to be settled in full?

idontlikecats

OK so we had another chat on this subject again and it appears to be much worse than expected.

I informed my partner that I had created this thread and asked her to monitor & post ITT to see if people can offer any help. I guess she isn't used to web forums a she created a dupe thread with my OP's text but the figure owed was quoted as ~3k..

There were some posts ITT so I'll quote them here

Tixy wrote: »

You mention it being a shared rental and mention the full rent amount - can you confirm if the occupants each have individual tenancy agreements or if they rent the place as a group all named on a single tenancy agreement.

Regarding the interest and charges - you would be best asking on theHouse Buying, Renting & Selling section.

You will never be liable for this debt, even if she moves in to the property.
There shouldn't be any reason for it to ever get as far as bailiffs. Even if the landlord takes her to court she should ask the court to be able to pay the debt in installments, and they will assess her financial situation to decide how much she can afford. As long as she then keeps up with those payments then bailiffs could not be instructed.

Is she able to pay the current months rents in full this month and next?
Has she worked out what she can afford now to put towards the arrears? and then how much she will be able to pay towards the arrears on a monthly basis? If not I would do that first. Remember that this is a priority debt and should be paid before any other debts (such as bank debt).

She will not be able to afford to pay any further rent payments. She is unemployed and recieving Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

So if this goes that far the procedure is court - > payment play - > if that is breached then bailiffs etc? What are the mid-long term effects of that process? Will being associated with her (Joint acct for example) effect my credit score in any way?

tiger_eyes wrote: »

Are these figures right? If she hasn't paid rent from February onward, that's a maximum of six months' arrears. At £304.20 a shot, that's £1825.20 - less than half your estimated arrears. Are we missing something? Does she owe for something else as well?

Re: this. I believed the amount owed to be ~£1.5k at the time of writing the OP. However, two days after writing the OP she recieved an email from a Liverpool based company who identify themselves as debt recovery.

This is the first correspondence she has recieved on this matter and the email reads as follows:

Subject: Final Demand - Outstanding invoice due to xxxx ref: xxxx

((As a new user I apparently can't post links ITT.. The letter body is at img19.imageshack.us/img19/149/t47.png))


We also found out that it is a joint tenancy agreement. The tenancy agreement mentions all 5 tenants names and each of the 5 signed and returned a copy of it, along with a guarantor form. My partner's guarantor is her father who has recieved no communication.

As there is a lot of white noise in my relaying this information to you I will try to instruct my partner a little better in how to reply ITT and get her an account set up ASAP. She should be along and reading at any time

So in a nutshell. What advice should I be giving her for what to do next?

NB90

Naomi here (idontlikecats partner)

I have received one letter from the debt collectors 'Daniel Silverman' since the last comment/post on this thread. My mother who is the guarantor has also received one.



The one from me says :

We have been instructed by our above named client to recover the above outstanding debt. We now demand immediate repayment of £ 3,709.75. Unless full payment is sent directly to us within seven (7) days we will take final recovery action through the Courts, which may lead to:-

- You having to pay legal fees and court costs
- Judgment being awarded against you in Court
- Debt details being registered affecting your ability to obtain credit in future
- Bailiffs calling at your premises

Please telephone our office immediately on 0151 222 6694 to discuss further.

YOU NOW HAVE SEVEN DAYS TO REPAY IN FULL. ACTION WILL BE TAKEN AGAINST YOU THROUGH THE COURTS IF YOU FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THIS DEMAND.

PAY ONLINE AT danielssilverman.co.uk OR FOLLOW THE PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS BELOW.


My mother's letter is the same as mine except for the opening sentence which is :

'We have been instructed by our name above named client to recover the above outstanding debt'

The one to me was sent on the 3rd July and my mothers on the 5th July so time has almost ran out. Neither of us can afford to pay it. Shall I call the number? Get in touch with the estate agents? Or wait to see what happens next? The worse that happens is that I go to court and have to repay over time.

Any advice would be much appreciated

cte1111

As you're not working and claming JSA, can you claim Housing Benefit too? This could help pay at least part of the outstanding rent.

NB90

I am claiming ESA, but its not income support related as I now live with my partner and don't have to pay rent here. So housing benefit is not an option for me.

graduate

Have you tried talking to the Landlord about your situation and why you weren't paying the rent? They might be sympathetic about the fact that you were ill and you could come up with a payment plan.

g